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A product manager wants to extend the refund window from 30 to 45 days. Step through what AppThentic shows before anyone changes the system.

Extending the refund window1 / 6

Step 1
A product manager wants to change a rule.
Refunds are 30 days. Competitors offer 45. Before anyone changes the system, AppThentic shows what is known about this rule.
Request · refund windowIllustrative
S. Iyer · Product
Can we move consumer refunds from 30 to 45 days? Competitors offer 45.
AppThentic found
1 rule that sets the window, with an approved reason
5 things that depend on it
1 related rule whose reason has expired
Step 2
The rule, with its reason and its owner.
The exact source, the reason in the owner’s own words, and when it was approved. No one had to write a doc.
refunds/policy.py · rule cardIllustrative
Rule · Consumer refund windowApproved
```
41def refund_allowed(order, today):
42    window = 30 if order.channel != "b2b" else 60
43    return (today - order.delivered_on).days <= window
```
AppThentic asked Finance
Why 30 days for consumer orders, rather than 60 as for B2B?
R. Mehta · Head of Finance
Our payment partner settles chargebacks within 35 days. Thirty keeps every refund inside that, so we never refund money already lost to a dispute.
Source refunds/policy.py:42Owner FinanceApproved 12 Sep 2026
Step 3
What depends on it.
Five things rely on this rule. One of them, the daily finance reconciliation, would break at 45 days.
Impact · refund window changeIllustrative
Proposed change
Consumer refund window: ~~30 days~~ → 45 days
Rule refunds/policy.py:42
- finance-daily-reconApproved
  Conflict · Assumes refunds settle inside the 35-day chargeback window. 45 days breaks that.
  Report · Owner: Finance
- payments-apiObserved
  Calls refund_allowed() before every refund.
  Service · Owner: Payments
- support-macrosDocumented
  Tells customers "30 days" in 4 templates.
  Help text · Owner: Support
- loyalty-clawbackInferred
  Removes points when an order is refunded.
  Job · Owner: Growth
- festive-extended-returnsStale
  Overrides the window for festive orders.
  Rule · Owner: Ops
5 dependents1 conflict4 owners to ask1 related rule stale
Step 4
A related rule whose reason has expired.
A festive-season override is still in the system, though the promotion it served ended in January. AppThentic flags it.
Rule · festive extended returnsIllustrative
Rule · Festive extended returnsStale
```
18if date(2025,10,1) <= order.placed_on <= date(2026,1,15):
19    window = 60
```
Approved reason · Ops · 22 Sep 2025
"Covers the festive promotion. It ends 31 January 2026."
The reason expired on 31 Jan 2026. The code still applies it, and it overrides the refund window you are changing.
Ask Ops: keep, change or remove?
Step 5
Asking the people who know.
The engineer who built it points to Finance. AppThentic follows the answer to the person who actually decided.
Questions · refund windowIllustrative
AppThentic → A. Rao, Payments · wrote this code
refunds/policy.py:42 sets 30 days for consumer orders and 60 for B2B. Why 30 rather than 60?
A. Rao · Payments
I implemented it, but Finance chose the number. Ask R. Mehta.
Followed to R. Mehta, Head of Finance
R. Mehta · Finance
Our payment partner settles chargebacks within 35 days. Thirty keeps every refund inside that window.
ApprovedRecorded with source, owner and date. 2 questions, 1 hand-off.
Step 6
The decision, recorded with its sources.
Who asked, who decided, who was told, and the sources behind it. The next person to ask gets this answer.
See this on your own system
Decision recordIllustrative
Decision recordApproved
Refund window stays at 30 days until the payment partner extends its chargeback window. Then it moves to 45.
Asked by
S. Iyer · Product
Decided by
R. Mehta · Finance
Also told
Payments, Support, Growth
Follow-up
Festive returns rule sent to Ops to retire
Source refunds/policy.py:42Source finance-daily-reconSource partner contract §7.2

A product manager wants to change a rule.

The rule, with its reason and its owner.

What depends on it.

A related rule whose reason has expired.

Asking the people who know.

The decision, recorded with its sources.